UEFA have confirmed there will be changes to the seeding system for next year’s Champions League draw.
The method of relying on European results over the previous five years will now be ditched and replaced by one that give precedence to teams that have won their domestic titles.
As a result, no country can have more than two teams in the top set of seeds and it means the winners of the 2014-15 edition of the Champions League will be joined in pot number one by the title winners from England, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Germany and Russia.
If the Champions League winners also happen to win their domestic League then the champions of the eighth-ranked member association, in this case Holland’s PSV Eindhoven, would be added to the top list of seeds despite being ranked only 30th in the UEFA club coefficient list.
“Football is all about winning, it’s about competition and sporting merit. I think it’s kind of a natural thing to give those who have won a competition special treatment like this,” explained UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino.
